Thrust bearing



Aug. 11, 1931. F. H. BANBURY 1,313,449

' 'rrmusw BEARING Filed Oct. 12.. 1927 2 Sheets Sheet 1- Fig.1.

INVENTOR By Attorneys,

Aug. 11, 1931. F. H. BANBU RY v THRUST BEARING Filed Oct. 12, 1927 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 11, 1931 UNITED ,sr Es PATENT ornca FERNLEYH. BANB URY, OF AN SONIA, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOB TO FABREL-IBIRMING- HAMCOMPANY, INCORPORATED, OONNEOTICUT OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT, ACORPORATION OF TERMS! BEABIN G Application filed October 12, 1927.Serial No. 225,780.

This invention relates to thrust bearings and aims to provide certainimprovements therein.

While the invention is susceptible of uses in 'f other connections, itis directed articularly to thrust bearings for so-called ru ber mixerswherein one or more rotors are used which are provided with bladesoperating to work the mixture against the interior surface of acylindrical trough or troughs. Such mixers are illustrated, foginstance, in Patent No. 1,200,- 070, granted to me on October 3, 1916which patent shows and describes a pair of rotors provided with bladesadapted to smear the in 16 .gredients'of the mix against the walls oftwo connected circular troughs. Machines of this type require the use ofconsiderable power and the end thrusts on the rotors are at timesexcessive. It has heretofore been the rat:-

20 tice to mount the two thrust bearin 0 each rotor at opposite sides ofthe mac e. In operation, however, because of the internal heat developedthere is a considerable expansion of the rotors in a linear direction,and this occasions difliculties in adjustment of the bearings. Accordingto the present invention I provide a thrust beariniwhich is' easily andquickly adjusted and loc ed in adjusted osition, and which preferably isso or s lzed as to take up thrusts of the rotor in 0th directions fromone side of the machine. The parts are so arranged that expansion orcontraction of the rotors in the direction of their length have littleor no effect upon. the accuracy of adjustment, so that when a properad'ustment is secured while the machine is co (1, this adjustment isequally accurate as the machineheats up in use.

' The invention also. includes certain other features of improvementwhich will be hereinafter. more fully described. 4

In the drawings wherein I have illustrated my invention in connectionwith such a rubber mixing machine, Y i Figure 1' is a horizontal sectionof a rubber mixer of the type described, showing the rotors and thrustbearings in plan. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal section of in takenvon the line2-2 in Fig. 3.

'g. 3 is a view of Fig. 2, looking from left the bearto right, thefigure being mainly in elevation.

Referring first to Figure 1 of the drawings, let A B indicate two rotorsof a rubber mixing machine provided with blades 0 ofappropriate contour,which blades operate in a trough D. The two rotors A B arepreferbushings J K. Suitable packings are also ed, such as are shown atL and M. e operation of such\a devlce severe end thrusts are set upwhichhave formerly been opposed by a pair of thrus bearings arran ed one ateach end of each of he rotors. Pre erably the rotors are water-cooled,and for this purpose are made hollow and provided withwater connectionsN N which are swivelled to a cap 0 bolted to the shaft of each of therotors.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 3 which illustrate the preferred form ofthe invention, it will be understood that the bearing provided by thisconstruction is so designed that it will take up thrusts of each of therotors in both directions, so that all of the adjustments may be madefrom a single point located on one side of the machine. In the.constructlon illustratedthe thrust bearings for the two rotorsare'identical, and while the section in Fig. 2 includes two bearings,these may be regarded as a single structure for purposes of adescription. 1

Referring to the upper half of Figure 2, it will be observed that thebearing bushing K which surrounds the rotor shaft is provided with aflan e P which bears on t 0 right against the rame of the machine. Therotor shaft is somewhat reduced in diameter at its a end and isthreaded, as shown at Q, to receive a thrust collar R. The right-handface of the thrust collar bears against the flange .P andholds'the'rotor against thrusts from left to right. By reason of itsscrew-threaded connection with the rotor shaftit is capable of to the0th the collar and shaft, so that a rigid connection is effected andwhen this is adopted the fineness of ad ustment accomplished dependsupon the disposition of such slots. In the construction illustrated Ihave shown the thrust collar as rovided with eight slots T cut in theouter ace of the collar; with such an arrangement if the rotor shaft isprovided with'a single slot T, the degree of ad ustment will be thatwhich is ual to one-ei hth of the distance which the t rust collar avances or retracts with one complete turn of the collar on its thread.For finer degrees of adjustment the rotor shaft may be provided with.two or more slots separated from each other according to a vernierarrangement. In the drawings two such slots T are shown which areseparated a distance equal to one and onehalf times the distance betweenthe slots in the thrust collar, which arran ement permits sixteenadjustments to a comp ete turn of the collar. A third slot in the rotorshaft would permit thirty-two adjustments, a fourth sixty-four and soon. With a suitable fineness of thread for the connection between thethrust'collarand the rotor shaft, it will be observed that any practicaladjustment necessary may be made y the construction just described, andfor each adjustment the parts can be rigidly locked together. The key S'may be held in osition by a screw bolt U or by any other suitablemeans.

. To take u the thrusts in the opposite direction of t e rotor, namely,from right to left, I preferably employ the same thrust collar R,utilizing the opposite face of the collar as a bearing surface. For thispurpose I emplo a headless cap V which is securely fastene to the frameof the machine in any suitable way, as by bolts W. The inner peripheralsurface of this cap is threaded as shown at X, and engaging this threadis a sleeve Y, which limits the left-hand movement of the rotor shaftthrough the thrust collar R. For bearin purposes a thrust ring Z is bestintroduced etween the two. The operation of adjustin the sleeve Y issimilar to that already descr1 ed with regard to the thrust collar R.That is to say, it is adjusted roper position and locked in lace,prefera ly by an arrangement which is the same in principle as thatalready" described. In this arrangement the sleeve Y is provided with aseries of slotsA' in its outer face and the cap is provided with one ormore slots B so that when the respective slots are in coincidence, akey, such as G,-may be bridged across the coinciding slots. The sleeveYis shown as provided with eight slots A and the cap is provided withtwo slots B, so that in each turn the arts may be locked in sixteendifferent positions. As stated with regard to the adjustment of thethrust collar, the number of slots in the cap may be so increased anddisposed as to provide any needful degree of adjustment. In eitherstructure the arrangement of the slots may be reversed, and they may, ofcourse, be increased in number, so that any desired fineness ofadjustment may be attained.v I have found, however, for the purposedescribed that a suflicient degree of adj ustability is obtained by theuse of the sixteen difl'erent adjustments shown in the drawings. If thethrust ring 2 is'used, it may be suitably keyed to the sleeve Y by apin, such'as By the construction as thusdescribed the adjustments arevery easily made and can be altered to take up wear with the minimumtrouble. The adjustments are practically unaffected by the expansion andcontraction of the rotors in the direction of their length so that inadjusting the machine while 0001, no allowance need be made for increasein the linear dimensions of the rotors due to the heating up of themachine in use.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of the invention, itwill be understoodthat various changes may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. 1

What I claim is:

1. In a thrust bearing for a shaft or the like, a threaded thrustcollar, a part upon which it screws to adjust the bearin said part andcollar having one a plura 'ty of nieans for interlocking with the other,and

the other having at least two of such means, so spaced as to provide avernier adjustmen between the two. j

2. In a thrust bearing for a shaft or the like, a threaded thrustcollar, 2. part upon which it screws to adjust the bearing, said partand collar having one a pluralitypf interlocking slots, and the otherhaving at least one such slot, and a key for entering a slot in eachwhen they coincide.

3. In a thrust bearing for a shaft or the like, a threaded thrustcollar, a part upon -which it screws to adjust the bearing, said partand collar having one a plurality of interlocking slots, and the otherhaving at least two such slots, spaced a different distance.

apart from that of the slots in the first and bridging means enteringsaid slots to lock the part and collar.

4. In a thrust bearing for a shaft or the like, a thrust collar screwingupon the shaft, a cap having a thread, a sleeve screwing upon suchthread, means for locking the collar to the shaft, and means for locking"the sleeve to the cap, such means comprising slots in the shaft andcollar, and in the cap and sleeve and a key for entering such slots.

5. In a thrust bearing for a shaft or the like, a thrust collarscrewing'upon the shaft,

a cap having a thread, a sleeve screwing upon such thread, means forlocking the collar to the shaft, and means for locking the sleeve to thecap, such means comprising slots in the shaft and collar, and in the capand sleeve and a key for entering such slots, and such slots beingspaced equidistantly on one of each pair of parts and being spaced onthe other of each pair a distance equal to the distance between two ormore slots in the first plus one half the distance between adjacentslots in the=first.

6. In a thrust bearing for a shaft or the like, a thrust collar, athrust member outwardly of said collar and adapted to prevent outwardmovements of the thrust collar, a

stationary part to which-said member screws, said part and member-havingmeans for interlocking with each other, the one having a plurality oflocking means and the other hav-' mg at least two such means so spacedas to provide a vernier adjustment between the two.

7. In a thrust bearing for a shaft or the like, a thrust collar, acap'secured to a stationary part and having a ring screwing thereon,said ring and cap having, one, a plurality of means for interlockingwith the other, and the other having at least two such means so spacedas to provide a vernier adjustment between the two.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

FERNLEY H. BANBURY.

